Friday, March 17, 2017

HOLY SEE INT'L : Five great achievements of Pope Francis' first four years (Opinion)

It is hard to believe but Pope Francis has had the fourth
anniversary of his election as pope on March 13.

In four years, the pope
has had a profound impact on the church.

True, he has not changed the
church's position on birth control, celibacy, women priests and gay
marriage, but he has fundamentally changed how we see the church in five
ways.

First, the pope has called for a new way of evangelizing. He tells us
that the first words of evangelization must be about the compassion and
mercy of God, rather than a list of dogmas and rules that must be
accepted. He speaks daily of the compassion and love of God.

Our
response, he says, is to show compassion and love to all our brothers
and sisters, especially the poor and marginalized. He not only talks
about it; he does it by reaching out to refugees, the homeless, and the
sick.

Previous popes wrote about the "new evangelization" in an abstract
and boring way. This pope communicates in a way that grabs people's
attention with his words and actions. His message is the message of the
Gospel — it is about the Father's love for his people and their
responsibility to love one another. He does not obsess over rules and
regulations. He is more interested in orthopraxis (how we live the
faith) than orthodoxy (how we explain the faith).

Second, Pope Francis is allowing open discussion and debate in the
church. He is not scandalized by disagreements, even over doctrine. It
is impossible to exaggerate how extraordinary this is. Only during
Vatican II was such a debate possible.

Ironically, conservatives who
attacked progressives as dissenters under earlier papacies have now
become dissenters to the teaching of Pope Francis.

During the last two papacies, dissent was roundly condemned and
suppressed. The theologies of John Paul II and Benedict XVI could not be
questioned. Episcopal candidates were screened on the basis of loyalty
not pastoral skills. Bishops with contrary ideas were pressured into
silence.

An Australian bishop was removed from office for even
suggesting the church might discuss women priests.

At synods of bishops, Vatican officials controlled the agenda and
even instructed the bishops on what topics could not be discussed. The
synods, which were supposed to advise the pope, became forums for
bishops to profess their loyalty.

Under Francis, synodal participants were encouraged by the pope to
speak their minds boldly and not worry about disagreeing with him. The
result is a freer exchange of views, public disagreements, and even
outright criticism of the pope by some conservative cardinals. All of
this would never have been allowed under earlier popes.

There is also a long list of theologians who were investigated
and silenced by the Vatican Congregation for Doctrine of the Faith
during the last two papacies. This was especially true of moral
theologians in the United States, liberation theologians in Latin
America, and those interested in interreligious dialogue in Asia.

Many
lost their jobs in seminaries and were forbidden to publish. Even more
practiced self-censorship lest they get into trouble.

This was especially true for priest theologians, who were controlled
through ecclesial rather than academic channels. They were simply
ordered under obedience to comply. Academic freedom for theologians was a
joke, unless they were laypersons with tenure. Priest journalists were
also censured and fired.

All that is gone.

One no longer hears of theologians being
investigated and silenced. This is extremely important if theology is to
develop and deal with contemporary issues in a way that is
understandable by people of the 21st century. The theological guild, if
it is left alone, can be a self-correcting community of scholars.

Third, Cardinal Burke and the pope's critics are right; the pope is
presenting a new way of thinking about moral issues in Chapter 8 of Amoris Laetitia.
He is moving the church away from an ethics based on rules to one based
on discernment. Facts, circumstances, and motivations matter in such an
ethics.

Under this approach to moral theology, it is possible to see holiness
and grace in the lives of imperfect people, even those in irregular
marriages. Rather than seeing the world as divided between the good and
the bad, we are all seen as wounded sinners for whom the church serves
as a field hospital where the Eucharist is food for the wounded rather
than a reward for the perfect. Gone is any attempt to scare people into
being good.

Fourth, the pope has raised environmental issues to a central place
in the Catholic faith. He recognizes that global warming may be the most
important moral issue of the 21st century. In his encyclical, Laudato Si',
the pope tells us that "Living our vocation to be protectors of God's
handiwork is essential to a life of virtue; it is not an optional or a
secondary aspect of our Christian experience."

His encyclical was greeted enthusiastically by environmentalists who
in the past saw the church as an enemy because of its position on birth
control. Now the church is an ally because environmentalists are
recognizing that religion is one of the few things that can motivate
people to the kind of self-sacrifice required to save the planet. The
pope's encyclical has shown the way.

Finally, the pope has moved to reform the governance structures
of the church. True, reform of the Roman Curia has proceeded slowly, but
it is happening. The financial reforms are spreading through the
various Vatican agencies, beginning with the Vatican bank and moving
through other entities. The Vatican budgetary process has been tightened
up, and various offices have been consolidated. This is all for the
good of the church. There is still lots to be done, but it is happening.

More importantly, he is trying to change the culture of the clergy,
moving them away from clericalism to a vocation of service. He wants
bishops and priests to see themselves as servants of the people of God,
not princes.

Most important for the protection of his legacy, he has broken with
tradition and seized control of the process for appointing cardinals.
Rather than simply promoting prelates in traditional cardinalatial sees,
he has reached into the college of bishops for cardinals that reflect
his priorities and values.

This increases the chances that his
successor, elected by these cardinals, will continue his agenda and not
roll back the changes that he has made.

To my progressive friends who are disappointed that the pope has not
changed the church’s position on birth control, celibacy, women priests
and gay marriage, I urge you to look at what he has done.